Selena Gomez has a love/hate relationship with social media — but that doesn't mean she isn't grateful for where it has got her.
The mogul is this year's host for WE Day, a live event that brings together speakers and musicians to perform for young people making a difference in their communities and the world at large. While on the red carpet for the event, the 13 Reasons Why producer was asked by Access Hollywood host Liz Hernandez why it's so important for her to bring good into the world via social media. Gomez told the host:
"It's a little intimidating, kind of knowing what it is, that media, that platform," Gomez revealed. "At the same time, the only thing I can do is live by example. So I just try my hardest to inform people what I think is important, and I also want [them to know] that they're being heard. I don't know, it's weird. It's such a balance. I have such a love/hate relationship with [social media]."
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Gomez admitted in an interview with Vogue that her relationship with social media wasn't always the healthiest:
""As soon as I became the most followed person on Instagram, I sort of freaked out," she told Vogue of earning her 110 million followers in February of 2017. "[Instagram] had become so consuming to me. It’s what I woke up to and went to sleep to...I was an addict, and it felt like I was seeing things I didn’t want to see, like it was putting things in my head that I didn’t want to care about."
Clearly, for Gomez, it's all about balance.
One person who didn't always have an open relationship with social media? 13 Reasons Why star Katherine Langford. The actress, who portrays Hannah Baker on the Netflix series, confessed in an interview with The Last Magazine that she had initially kept her Instagram private — until Gomez suggested she use it to connect with fans.
"I have never been attracted to increasing my popularity or hireability by being on Instagram," Langford confessed to the magazine. "Selena pointed out that the show is targeting young adults like me and that [social media] is a good medium to talk directly with those who relate to my character, Hannah."
There's Gomez: once again, using social media to lead by example.